Sanchez was in good company as the substitutes included Per Mertesacker, Olivier Giroud, Theo Walcott and Alex Iwobi

Just one look at the bench — David Ospina, Per Mertesacker, Olivier Giroud, Theo Walcott, Alex Iwobi, Sanchez, Francis Coquelin — suggests that while Wenger’s talk of the title might be outlandish, they really ought to be contesting a Champions League spot at least.

Wenger said this was a test for “the mental health” of his team and had Arsenal failed to win yesterday, the roof would have caved in.

One of those days when the Emirates becomes an angry hive of 60,000 people shouting at one another. Civil war is always festering away just beneath the surface.

And this week, for the first time in almost 20 years, Arsenal will watch the Champions League from their sofas and prepare for a Europa League clash with Cologne.

Should he and Mesut Ozil see fit to operate at anything near their optimum level throughout this season — presumably their final one at Arsenal — then the Gunners ought not meet the alarmist predictions of a slump into mid-table misery.

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Wenger couldn’t fathom why any supporters might boo Sanchez.

“I love my players, it is true,” said Wenger, wistfully, when challenged about their title credentials.

This love, this excessive loyalty to players who do not always merit it, is probably his greatest crime.

Just as Gunners supremo Stan Kroenke’s loyalty to Wenger is the American’s own greatest flaw.

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It is not a problem Sanchez is ever likely to suffer from.

But he is still here, so he might as well cheer up and try to make the best of it.

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